FY2021 Energy Supply and Demand Report (Preliminary Report)

1. Highlights of the preliminary report

(1) Trends in energy demand

Overall final energy consumption increased by 2.0% year-on-year; of this, consumption increased by 12.1% in coal, 4.5% in city gas, and 2.0% in electricity, while it decreased by 0.4% in oil.

The household sector showed a decrease in energy consumption year-on-year due to various factors, including the decreased time spent at home because of the slowing spread of COVID-19. The business sector showed an increase due to factors that include a recovery from the decrease in demand from the previous fiscal year.

• A breakdown by sector on a year-on-year basis shows that while final energy consumption increased in the business sector by 4.5% (of this, consumption increased by 5.6% in the manufacturing sector) and in the transportation sector by 1.0%, it decreased in the household sector by 6.5%.
• Electricity consumption increased in the business sector by 5.5% (of this, consumption increased by 5.8% in the manufacturing sector) and decreased in the household sector by 6.2% on a year-on-year basis.

(2) Trends in energy supply

Overall domestic supply of primary energy increased by 3.4% on a year-on-year basis. Supply of fossil fuels increased by 1.4%, marking the first increase in eight years. Renewable energy (including hydroelectric power) continued to increase for the ninth consecutive year.

• In terms of fossil fuels, coal increased by 6.8% on a year-on-year basis, oil increased by 2.9%, and natural gas and city gas decreased by 6.4%. In terms of non-fossil fuels, nuclear power increased by 82.6%, and renewable energy (excluding hydroelectric power) increased by 10.3%, driven by solar power. Because the share of non-fossil fuels increased, the share of fossil fuels fell to 83.2%, the lowest level since the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The amount of generated electric power increased by 3.2% on a year-on-year basis (1.0327 trillion kWh), the ratio of non-fossil sources was 27.1%, up by 3.5 percentage points (%p) on a year-on-year basis.

• The breakdown of generated electric power shows that renewable energy was 20.3%, up by 0.5%p, nuclear energy was 6.9%, up by 3.0%p, and thermal power (excluding biomass) was 72.9%, down by 3.5%p on a year-on-year basis.

The energy self-sufficiency ratio was 13.4%, up by 2.1%p on a year-on-year basis (based on IEA data).

(3) Trends in CO2 emissions

Energy-related CO2 emissions increased by 1.2% on a year-on-year basis at 0.98 billion tons, showing a decrease by 20.7% from FY2013 and remaining below 1 billion tons since FY2020.

• CO2 emissions increased for four consecutive years until FY2013 due to the impact of the shutting down of nuclear power plants after the Great East Japan Earthquake. However, after this increase, the emissions are now on a decreasing trend due to a decrease in demand, the spread of renewable energy, and the restarting of nuclear power plants. In FY2021, emissions increased on a year-on-year basis for the first time in eight years due largely to the recovery from the fall in demand caused by the COVID-19.
• Looking at a breakdown by sector, an increase is seen in the business and transportation sectors by 3.8% and 1.0% respectively, while a decrease is seen in the household sector by 8.3% on a year-on-year basis.

CO2 emissions intensity of electricity (at the consumers' end) has improved by 3.1% year-on-year to 0.46kg-CO2/kWh.

2. Statistics table available on the website

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